The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga welcomes the Provincial Legislature’s adoption of our motion for the Department of Education to establish a task team aimed at assisting Special Needs Learners.
In their 2024/2025 Annual Performance Plan (APP), the department mentioned that they are to establish a task team, to look into the costing and regulations on the provision of infrastructure, staff, catering and hostel facilities for special needs learners.
They said once the processes of costing and regulations are finalised, the task team will engage National Treasury on the cost implications.
MEC Cathy Dlamini and her department must urgently establish this task team before the new school year begins, as many special needs learners across Mpumalanga will soon be stranded at home as their current hostel facilities are being forced to close.
The DA’s adopted motion also included a request for MEC Dlamini and her department to urgently assist Masinakane Special Needs School in DR JS Maroka Local Municipality. This school has been fighting for proper boarding facilities since the building they were using was condemned, forcing learners to sleep in classrooms.
In 2022 with the help of the DA and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), the department built a makeshift boarding school which could only accommodate 45 of the 126 learners; the rest were housed in classrooms. Two years later, their makeshift boarding facility is no longer safe for the learners to use. With the other 80 learners still using classrooms as boarding facilities, the Department of Labour has fined the school R700 000 which will lead to the closure of this school’s boarding facilities.
It is unfortunate that Masinakane Special School is not the only Mpumalanga special needs school that is facing problems with boarding facilities. Previously, Platorand Special School had to privatise their hostel facilities which became difficult for many parents to afford.
Special needs learners and their families rely heavily on the teaching, medical and hostel staff to assist these learners who constantly need specialised teaching and care. Failing to accommodate them in 2025 would be catastrophic, leaving vulnerable children exposed to societal risks while their parents are at work.
The DA will continue fighting for Constitutional Right to Education for these learners until the Mpumalanga Government finds a sustainable solution.